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Tuesday, 4 September 2012

Review: Eugene Twist – The Boy Who Had Everything

Eugene
Twist – The Boy Who Had Everything(Independent)

Glaswegian singer-songwriter Eugene Twist seems to be
making lots of friends with his debut album “The Boy Who Had Everything”. Just
eight songs long, its mix of clever arrangements, bright, idiosyncratic songwriting
and a quirky pop stance is overwhelmingly appealing from the off.

Lead track “If There’s Love Where I’m Going” takes
classic, jaunty pop hooks, adds an intermittent squawking sax and tension
building slabs of electricity to a feverishly strummed acoustic guitar, and
some sort of musical nirvana results. It’s a musical state of mind that’s
repeated on “Tough Act To Follow”, a distillation of Roddy Frame-esque nous and
wonderful Brill Building trickery – it sails dangerously close to perfection.

“Gaugin” continues the lush retro vibe, its melody
propelled by keys and guitars, with young Twist structuring peaks of pure gold
from subtle vocal meanderings and delicate melodic curves. The album concludes
with the wistful, languid “Actress On A Mattress”, its stripped back, hazy ambiance
and melancholic mood providing a gentle, satisfying exit.